Time-saving leveler and adjuster.



1. S. FRYE.

TIME sAvlNG LEVELER AND ADfusTER.

v APPLICATION F|LED MAY 24| .9|5. 1,182,472. Patented May 9, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES.- 'ge, INI/'ENTOR Alfoz/Hey WITNESSES.-

I. s. FIIYE.

TIME SAVING LEVELER AND ADJUSTER. .APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. I9I5.V

1,182,472. Patented May 9,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T all whom t iizayconoer'n! Be it known lthat L JASONVSL-FRYE, .a tizen: offthellnited"Jitatest1 residing at ownievilleyin the countyrof `Sierra and Statebof California,` `have invented a new Il dfzuseful Time-Saviiig1 Leveler` and Adjii'steigllof which the following is a speciu ation.

` foiiwleyelingforadjusting; and itsfjobject is to provide aw ineansivliereby ansyartiele or e" may be `quickly broiiglit intoifa conditionyA of' true level 1 byfirjst approximating completing the attainmentof the condition bysloW- actingdevicea y Vhere 'itis desirableto attain an accui 'tevcndition of level'vfroman out-,of-level position, `it customary to employ slow t fujtiiigf` means whereby l, relatively great ent; i of umanipulating movement brings lit but a relatively small degree ofmove'- inentfinl the objectbeing leveled.` The 'reae l on orfthis-is' thatl thegreat ,dir ninution of movement( between `the pointH of actuation dine/objectbeingfleveled makes it posv` s ibletolobtain extreme accuracy inthe Vlevling operation. y .t y

`It is` customary to employ leveling screws of fine pitchforsiicli pnrposebut'it often ppens lthat the extent :of adjustment nec- `s`sary *is -suiciently great itc i demand many z itations` of oneor moreof` the screws to `dliistrnents` are performed a at freqiient intervalsfthe time `consumed in` attaining the jiistmeiits` becomes veryQm-aterial.

' By the @present inwention`- -the object to v be y leveled `is moved ffrcfimfl the :olit-olf-level` siti'ontof-a "closeapproximation to the" t ll positionvery quickly andwin amini- Wmiim `of time, l after which; the-completion li "r cy "1s peiffQrmabl'e a correspondingly 3 h'ort time Such;` an;arrangement"isjo` ej where` thei operationl'of yleveling is`peru y rniedf at trequentintervals "andthe `out-of- 1 lel position4 is,l as `frequently variable.y While the present lJ invention `is lof wide ection` with 1S Marie-tabl@xcbmpfiaia and n iii e consi` ei ed` `that the invention i pplied fto snr'veyorfs transit 1 `withont i irrita-savino LEVELER Aim amuseren.

V`Specification of Letters Patent. iilpiieafioa flied :may 24,1915. serian No. 30,1115.

:Thiszfinvention has reference to means to take "any particular Careto initially apcndition byxqiiick-'actingf devices and about the desired result.` 'Vflien such"4r veling f to; a point ofext'reme accuf d ptability` itlhas particulararaliie'i'nfcoip g si'irv yingin'struments such as'.

n" convenience of@ description loro.

"Jason SAMUELIERSIE; or nowninvrtiin, oALiroitNiA- atented May Si, 15H6.

lioiiever, in any manner confining the in verition 'to siicli particular use.

In field `Work the transit is frequently set up and leveled and then moved to another VStation While the ground or support upon which the transit tripod is placed may be suoli as to make it difficult to attain to a close approach to Aa. level position. `Nor with the present invention is it necessary preach the level positiajin so long as the head oi the tripod does not tilt beyond the range of the leveling devices.

ln accordance with the invention leveling screws of fine pitch are employed in con.-

'junction with other screws of `coarse pitch Acarrying `the line pitch screws and' so ar# ranged that a quick approximation to the desired level condition is obtaineclby a manipulation of the coa-rse pitch screws constituting the coarse adjustment of the instrument and the. attainment of accuracy of adjustment isdiie `to the inanipiiiatioii of the fine pitch screws. `Stich fine pitch screws may be the customary leveling screws, such as are employed in ingr instruments and they may be sinii.la `lydis posed. The coarse pitch screws are'in the foi-in of bushings through lwhich tne iine `pitch screwsare threadcdand which bushingsare movable ina direction lengthwise of the tine pitch screws by means of nuts ai plied to the' exterior of the bushings which are ii'sually supplied with coarse threads;

that is, threads of relatively long pitch-as compared with the pitch ot' the other screws.

ln conjunction with the leveling Screws there is provided what may be termed a non-crawl `plate aga-inst which the leveling `screws bear and which in tiirn bears against I and is laterally' adjustable on the base plate ,of the instrument.

' The invention will be best understood tailed description, taken in connection with the; accompanying drawings .torniing part of thisspecification,` 'with the further iin 'from-a consideration/xd the following de-' clerstaiiding that While the drawings show practical forni of the invention, the latu ter is not confined to any strict conformity `with fthe showing` ofthe drawings, 'ont may be changed and inrxfiiieil so long as auch l"liz-urges and modifications mark no inaterial. deiiaiture 'from `the salient tentures of the invention.

'i t applied thereto,

- ing screws and jan-elevation of so that the shell 6 2 isjaviewV f ftfjis a section .on the line-4 4 of Fig. 2. *Fig 5 is a perspective View of a spider for carryingfthe adjusting screws'.

Fig,V 6 is anaxial section through one-of the adjust- -coactingparts Fig. A"Z is one of the bushings on a `larger scalev than the other igures.

Referring to the drawings there is shown a tripod head 1 hav-ing a peripheral nut 'f2 vSaid nut constituting the, base plate of the transit and is provided with acentral opening 3 around which the nut is inthe form of an overhangin'g fiange 4 directed toward the center ofthe nut or.

lar Hangs 5 on a shell 6 against 'the vhead l, lmay be shifted laterally ofthe Aloa'spla-'te 2 ard head l, asis custom.-

ary in Asurveying instruments ofthe characlike character.

Mounted ata suitable point on the spin- 45. as a four ai'zn spider, `cated at l1 andeach laterally offset 'flange 19.

`The lug is in the nature lof a and 1the channel 20 serves tel` illustrated.

The Yshell, which is 'of frusto semispherical form, constitutes one member of a' 'hall and socket joint, the other member Aa nut 7'v of suitable shape constitutes the lower end of va. spindle or stem 8', which latter at the upperfend carries a' transit instrument 9.

ary, foi-mand in itselfis no part of the presentinvention, itis not deemed necessary tov either show or describe itin detail.' Furtherf more, the instrument 9 may be taken 'as in# dicative of'not on'lya -transit,hut la compass" or a plane-table or any other instrument of dle''is-aspide lO-shown in the drawings the arms.losing.indi` provided 'with va passage -1'2 therethrough* The spider `10 has an laxially extended. hub 13 carrying arms 14 matching but-'spacedA from the-.arms 11 and eacharm 14C has a passage 15 therethrough` laliningvwith .thel passagel2 of the corre- Extending through veach pair of -alined .passages 12 and 15 is an'elongated bushing i6 having exterior screw threads 1701i coarse pitchr` .The bushing is provided'with an screw threads of line and one end ci' the bushing 'has Va Extending lengthf wiseofth'e bushing and exterior thereto is 'a chanmely 2G vin which is seated 'a llug or projecticn2l in the corresponding "passage 15;"

key' or spline as a keyway pitch' periphery 26.` The size to Aconcentric relation or such vparticular "through the passages 12 and 15, butis held and the lower gporby the'lugor key against rotative movement aboutits longitudinal axis.

'--Applie'd to each bushing lf-'betiween the`A 'respective armsj'll and is a nut 22 usually i circular and having a milled by means'of which the nut is readily manipulated. Thel nut 22 is' of such diameter' as to'project beyond the respective'arms 11 direction or the other, the extentfof such.

movement lbeing limited in one'direction by the flange 19 and in correspondingly threaded stemr of 'a screw. 2e h 'periphery .23

hand of the the other direction by partsof theinstrument. 4 Threaded through thepassage is the f S5, avingnear one 'end'a vmanil'mlating headv 25 usually of fl'atcir'cular form with a milled 'stem 2liA ,has a continuation 2ten the side ofthe head 25 remote' from the stem of the screw and thecontinu-` ation 127 is usually rounded -atlits extremity to, t an' expanding cav-ity 28'; in -a shoe block 29.'

Applied to theibase plate 2 is an annular plate or ring 30 .having on the face remote from the hase plate a, shallow annular channel 31 s'o located as'to receive theshoes 29'. The plate 30 has a central passage 32 of a snugly yet freely fit the exterior of the shell 6, so that the plate, 'which is of sufficient diameter t0 project 'i beyond the margins of the base plate 2,*constitutes a manipulating means whereby thebase plate .andparts carried. therebymay be placed' in centricity to the head 1 of -the`tripod, Such lateral adjustmentof customary of tl'ieinStrUment over a-center or station in the operation of surveymg.

in any degree of ecthe working parts of. 'the'-instrument Withrelation to the tripod is on instruments of this character, 'and isdesigned to permit the properplacing The screws 24 may be such as are custom- -arily employedf as leveling screws in surveying` instruments, and these screws usually have threads ranging from 28 to i2-to the inch. The 'bushings 16 are screws. of far lio steeper pitch and in a practical form 'of the invention these screws are given a pitch of4 about-three to theinch and may be of the multi-thread type. screws 24,' ings 16, may each be moved by a single c"om-` piete turnof the nut 22 approximately ten vtimesas far as the screws'are moved -bv a The'vresult is that the 'which arelcarried by thehushsinglecomplete turn of the head'125.l These proportions are *given4 by way of example-v and not-as confining the invention to any proportions, since it-w, ill be understood that; the proportions may vary the progressive movement "per turnl .should materially gressive movement of the fine present and this j I nodifliculty lin noting manipulating the nuts22 in the customaryl f '3.5 manneref leveling the only-approximate', while for eXtremela'ccw jracy-.tlie fine' adjustment isthen utilized and within quite'V Widelimits, but in any event the utility of the invention demands that of thebusliings exceed a proadjustment pi' the screw per turn.` The bushings each constitute rapid or quick adjustment customarily termed a coarse adjustment,'whilethe Screws 24 provide a. slow adjustment commonly known as a fine adjustment,v whereby a. manipulating movement'of the vhead 25 irough` ak Certain distance .produces a relatively minuteprogressive movement of the screw Q4 while the same nut 22 may impart to the gressive movement manv screw 24.

Let it `be assumed that bushing 16` fbi-o times that f the the transit is about parallel with the tripod head l and that it is desirable to set up the instrument. The" trif pod is "located on such support as may be support may be such that the tripod is very nearly level. The operator can see at a glance 'that very, little `adjustment is needed and. this adjustment may be brought about by a fractional turn of one .or more of the nuts 22v orof the'heads 25,

the-liner adjustment Suppose, however, that the up quite out oflevel,'then the operator has instrument, 'oneor two turns of one set or more ofthe nuts 22 and more often only a fractional turn thereof` `is su'licient tov bring the of the instrument' into close approximation to the level condition indicated at the nsual levels with whichy theV instrument is provided.

n `-Because of"tliezc'soarseness or the adjust-4 `ment provided for-fby the bushings 16; the

leveling Aof-v the linStrumeI-itycan at best be such vineladjilstment' permits theV same def Y gree of .accuracy ofjleveling thatisaC'cOm- -plished-With-surveying instruments as cusj iEven withthe: coarse 'pitch 'of'the' ex- A terior threads of the bushings theA weight of an .instrument such asia Vsurveyors.i nstru-.

, ment isinsuflitient to ,impart any rotative movement'l to, the nuts 22; kand hence these j nutsz'rem'aijn iii-l 4lacev and-might of themsel'ves' provide e cientvilocks were it 'not for the "presence of the `,screvv-s 24, the latter not only providingforthesfnal; accuracy of ad'- 'justmenh but lalso 'serving to'force the shoes .Wage-inst the plate BO'and the latter against Y ase l'ate-2,sovthatl-allwtlie parts-are thenQ-firm yjlpckedf. against accidental dis? gplqemeat movement thenot necessary toA use.

tripod head lisset such fact, and by.

working parts- In field work a surveying instrument such as a transit is frequently set up, the levels taken, and then moved to another station.

teach station the leveling must be repeated and with the ordinary arrangement of fine pitch leveling screws considerable time must be taken, to turn the screws sufficiently to bring the parts again to a level. Sometimes the tripod must be set considerably out of level', and where fine pitch screws only are provided it sometimes happens that the u screws are run-eut without the level condi- --tionfhcing reachged, whereupon the tripod must-be reset an@y the screws reversed until runbacksand the'bperation of leveling refeateol. .ll thisis tedious and time consuming and necessitates the entire force Waiting upon'the instrumentman.

With the present invention the approxi,- mation to a level cdhdition is brought about in seconds rather than minutes. Moreover, there is no need otr-the instrumentman taking any particular care in setting up the tripod to approachas near as possible to a level condition7 since the adjustments are so quickly performed that it is quite ,immaterialjwhether the .tripod approach closely toa level position or whether it varies considerably therefrom even to the extent of requiring a resetting of the tripod. In fact, it is in a manner advantageous to have the tripod set sullicientlyout of level so that the instrumentman may at a glance ascertain which direction the parts must be v'moved toward the'level position. a. By mounting the iheadjustment 4leveling screws in coarse Iadjustment bushings the manipula-ting parts are. brought-into close relation yand can be reached and actuated without any material movement of vthe hands of the operator.

In "the ordinary surveying `instrument- .when the base plate is tilted at'a high angle and the leveling screws are being manipuslated, the bottom surface of the shoes are so small and their position is so `much disturbedby the revolution of the screws that there :is a strong tendency for. the instru.-

.. generallcharacter of that shown inthe drawy .ings and is a very annoying .conditionj The tendency iswholly overcome by the presence -ofsthe plate ,30 which is a light plate con? nected to the laterally adjustable part of the instrument so as to act a's a part of the'latter,

Hence the screws have no tendency to crawl on the-.base plate and the manipulation. of

the` leveling screws d oes not tend to vmove u the plate', sincethe weight ofthe instrument rests-,irll part upon two of thevscrews, while theitherf two are'being manipulated. Since one part of the jplate cannot move without the Whole plate any shifting or crawling tendency is wholly done away with, for the' lsurface of the plate is quite `large compared lwith. the areas on the vbottoms ofthe shoes,

and ywithin/ the limit of tilt of the entire leveling de ,vice there is`not enough super? imposed weight to cause the plate 3Q to slip 'on the baseplat'e.

= The invention has been described -'in' parf features .df ithe invention, since such claims are to 4be. oiind in another .application filed' y20 by. me on eyen date herewith and entitled:

ticulanf'with reference to a surveying in# with tohold the bushing against rotation land through which the bushing is movable longitudinally of the latter, a 'nut on the` exried by the holding means against .longi..-

--tudinal movement'r therein, and a screw havstrunienft, and it is of particular value'in` connectionfwith such instrument, but' the inventionl likewise hasvalue in other connec'tionsg where 'frequent leveling is desired and-.where the saving in time of manipulation isxof moment, v

Noclaimjfis. made herein to the-broader .Leveling and-adjusting means..

v'What c aimedis i- 1. A inea-ns for leveling an object upon a support, comprising two'members interposed between the object and the supportand movyable along the` same'axis, each member hav-- ingits threads matching those on. the' interior of the bushing and extending lengthwise ofV .the bushing, said screw having means lfor imparting rotative movements thereto and having one end formed into a thrust bearing,

5. A' means for rapidly leveling an .ob-

-gated bushing having .exterior threads oflong pitch` and 4interior threads of short pitch ascompared'with the pitch of the exterior threads, a carrying means` for the ob ject to bc leveled traversed Vby the bushing,A and said bushing and carrying means hav- Y 1 l. ing coacting parts holding the bushing against rotation' 1n the carrying means, a

terior of the bushing androtatably car- `ject. upon a support, comprising an elonal vnut engaging tlie carrying. means and'sni'- ing screw threatjls of different pitch from4 the otheigjand means. for theseparate actuation of either. inernber-\to simultaneously' feed both membersmh a rate'of linear speed l correspnding to tli'e. pitch of the threads ofthe actuated mernber..

. screw is. threadedlengthwise, said bushing.

2. 'A means fonleveling, comprising aro'-V tatable screwx of relatively 'finepitchl coinbined withta bushing through which the @having exteriorsc'rew threads of relatively screw, means for holding the bushingagainst wise movement to the bush coarse 'pitch as'coinpared .witliv those'of the rotation, and a feed nutlo'n thethreaded exrounding the bushing in engagement with the exterior threads {thereof-,for causingrelw tive movements betWee-nf the bushing and carrier in'a direction lengthwise of the bush'- ing, and a screw having-threads ci relat'he latter, said screw being vprovided with tively ne pitch corresponding' to the interior threads of the bushing and engaging actuating n'ieans nea-r one end and a thrust bearing on the side of the actuating means v remote frointhe bushing. 6. A. means for rapidly leveling an 0bject upon a support, comprising an elongated bushing having exterior' threads of long pitch and interior threads of=short pitch-as terior of the bushing for' imparting' 'lengtha ing`and thqscrew carried thereby 3. A meansv for leveling, comprisinga" screw of relatively fine pitch having, means for imparting rotative moveinentl to f the screw, combined with an'. elongated bushing through which the screw yis threaded length wise with said bushing having exterior screw threads oi relatively coarse Apitch, as com-y pared withv thoseof the screw, means for holding the' bushing against rotatiomand a nut applied to the threads 4on the exterior of the bushingand rotatable for causing lengtli-.

wise movement of. thebushing together with the screw carried thereby, and said nutihaving meansfassociated therewith for holding.

Y it .against participation injthe'lengthwise movements of the bushing.

4, A` means .for rapidly leveling-an obs4 ject upon .a support, comprisinga'bushing;

'having exterior screw 'threads olong pitch and interior screw threads' of short pitch as compared' with the exterior screw threads,

i' holding means for the bushing coacting theres compared with the pitch ofthe exterior threads, 'a carrying means for the object tov he leveled traversed by the bushing, and

said bushing and. carrying means having c'oacting parte 'holding the bushing against rotation in the carrying means, a nut leilgaging the .carrying means' and surroundlilo ing the bushing in engagement with the enterior threads thereoitl forcausing relative movements between the bushing and carrier in a direction-lengthwise of the bushing, and a screw having threadsv of rela'- tively .fine pitch corresponding to the interior threads ofthe bushing and engaging the latter, said screw-beingx-provided with actuating meansnear one end and athrust bearing on the side of the actuating` means .remote from the bushing, said screw being' lalso provided with a. shoe. receiving the thrust end of the screw.

" 7. A surveying'instrument provided with 'supportv and means carried by the sup.. port, `and leveling means interposed.l between the firstnamedmeans and, the support, ccmprisinga spider connected to theA first-named nieans,a series of exteriorly and interiorly threaded-"bushings on the spider relatively movable therein lengthwise of the bushings with said bushings and spider coactively formed to hold the bushings against rotative movements about their longitudinal axes, manipulating nuts on the bushings in coactive engagement with the spider to move the spider lengthwise of the bushings by rotative movements of the nuts, and screws each individual to a respective bushing and engaging the interior threads thereof, each screw being provided with a manipulating portion and the screws having the pitch of their threads relatively fine as compared to the pitch of the threads on the exterior of the bushings, whereby an approximate level of the `portion of the surveying instrument to be leveled is quickly attained. by movements of the bushings while the final accuracy of leveling is attained by relatively slower movements of the screws.

8. In a surveying instrument, the combination with a support and a part of the surveying instrument to bel leveled, of levcling means interposed between the support and the part to be leveled, comprising a series of members each composed of two associated elements movable along the same axis and each element having screw Athreads of different pitch from those of the other element, and means associated with said elements for the separate actuation of either element to simultaneously feedboth elements at a rate of linear speed corresponding to v the pitch of the threads of the actuated element.

9,.l A surveying instrument comprising a basic member, ahead mounted thereon `and movableY with respect to the basic member to bring the head into a level position, and means interposed .between the head and basic member for effecting the leveling, comprisfine threads of the bushing and engaging said threads, the bushing and screw being movable simultaneously in the same direction and separately in either direction along the same axis and each provided with actuating means individual thereto.

, 10. A surveying instrument comprising a basic member, a head mounted thereon and movable with respect to the basic member to bring the head into a level position, and means interposed between the head and basic member for effecting the leveling, comprising a plate mounted on and movable laterally of the base plate, and a series of pairs of leveling screw mem-bers, each pair comprising a bushing with exterior threads of coarse pitch and interior threads of fine pitch as compared with the exterior threads, and a screw having its threads matching the fine threads of the bushing and engaging said threads, the bushing andscrewbeing movable simultaneously in the same direction and separately. in either ,direction along the same axis and each provided with actuating means individual thereto, the screws having shoes interposed between them and the plate engaging the base plate ofV the instrument.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

t JASON SAMUEL FRYE.

Witnesses:

ELIPHALET Lnwrs CASE, MARK NORMAN ALLING.

(Sofie: of this patent may be obtained tot vc cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

